"Mayawati is expecting respect from those who had shown scant respect to her in the past. This shows how nervous she is," BJP UP media coordinator said

Mayawati has said the opposition will unite to stop the BJP in the 2019 elections

Lucknow:

The BJP today sought to know from whom is BSP chief Mayawati expecting respect, after she said her party will ally with any group as long as the Bahujan Samaj Party gets "respectable share of seats".

"Is she expecting respect from those who had shattered her pride and dignity in the infamous 1995 Guest House case?" Uttar Pradesh BJP media coordinator Rakesh Tripathi said. Recalling the more than two-decade-old incident, Mr Tripathi said it was BJP legislator Brahm Dutt Dwivedi who came to Mayawati's rescue.

"Today, Mayawati is expecting respect from those who had shown scant respect to her in the past. This shows how nervous she is and that her voter base has eroded," Mr Tripathi said.

Earlier on Sunday, Mayawati had said, "The efforts of the opposition parties will be to stop the BJP from coming to power at any cost. For this, talks of forging an alliance is also going on. Our party is not against the alliance, but our stand is very clear, that is, we will ally with a political party only if we get respectable share of seats. Or else, our party feels it is better to contest elections alone."

On the BSP chief's statement that BJP is not leaving any stone unturned to derive mileage from the death of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the BJP media coordinator said, "Mayawati has honoured so many great and eminent personalities by constructing their statues in Lucknow. I fail to understand why she is having any problem if the BJP is holding programmes in honour and memory of Atalji."

Mr Tripathi said Mayawati has been treating Scheduled Castes as her vote bank. "The BJP on the other hand has worked to increase the bank balance of the Scheduled Casts. She is visualising that her bank is being virtually robbed. Hence she is worried," he said.